Everything You Need To Know About Content & Content Strategy For Events - Twisted Content
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Everything You Need To Know About Content

& Content Strategy For Events

If you’ve ever been part of organizing an event, you know it’s tough work. It takes time and planning, not to mention resources and money. It takes coordination, searching, comparing and leading your team. So if you’re putting in all this work, doesn’t it make sense to optimize your marketing and communication with rich content your audience will be willing to engage with?

 

Looking at the event industry today, we see that more and more event organizers are investing their time and energy in content marketing. Firstly, it’s an effective way to create awareness, drive registration and increase ticket sales before your event. Secondly, it’s great to generate excitement on the day itself; and lastly, content prolongs the interest and energy long after your event has finished. Considering all these advantages, it seems logical that the event industry is improving the overall event experience by making smart investments in content marketing.

 

At Twisted Content, we’ve attended, organized, and created content for all kinds of events in different industries. Scrolling below you’ll see content marketing examples for different B2C and B2B events, both large and small, we’ve been involved in. Whether you’re looking to use video marketing for a conference or product launch – we’re sure you’ll find this guide useful!

Video before your event

In the lead up to your event, the pressure intensifies. Every department is hands-on from sales through to operations. Your marketing team is already stretched with updating websites, answering inquiries, dealing with media partners and managing advertising opportunities. But with content marketing, you’ll create more online awareness for your event and ensure a smooth and informed journey for your attendees. 

1. Throwback & Mood Setting

Video is a great way to evoke emotions – that’s why throwback videos often work so well! You’re bringing people back to a feeling they miss. So, a first quick win is to use the vibe and success of your past event to set the mood for this year. This means posting a throwback, anything from an aftermovie to a testimonial, to get people in the mood for another edition of your event! 

Advantages of using last year’s video content:

  • Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and video is a great way to evoke those emotions.
  • We’re big believers in repurposing content – you already have footage from last year, so it’s easy and cheap!
  • Create enthusiasm amongst those who were there last year.
  • Those who knew your event but missed out last year, won’t want to miss out again!
  • It’s a soft way to create awareness for your event amongst people who don’t know it.
  • Live footage helps humanize your event communication.

2. Save The Date

With people’s busy schedules these days, a “Save the date” video is an absolute must! It’s mostly used when you want to communicate about your event, but there aren’t many details available yet.

It’s a way to create that first buzz and tickle people’s curiosity – something most organizations see as the beginning of their event storytelling. Make sure to share it well in advance on all your channels.

3. Social Teaser

Teasers are designed to offer glimpses of your event and give some clues, which builds excitement and expectation prior to your launch. Make sure to optimize your videos for social: make a square version and keep it short!

4. Announcement Video

Time to announce your event! Announcement videos can range from a very conceptual awareness video to a more detailed explanation of your event. The main goal is just to get your event name out there and make sure you generate awareness amongst your audience. If your event is already well-known, you can go for a sleek video that contains less information and is more aimed at portraying your event as being super professional! That’s exactly what TedxNingbo does with pretty animations like this one: 

5. Invitation

With an invitation video, you’re not only showing people what they have to look forward to, but you’re also encouraging them to join you! These videos take into account the event feel, branding, and clearly include the name and date of the event.

 

Catchy music, colourful visuals and clear text on screen proved to be a winning combination for this international event invitation!

 

For a higher-end event, go for a sleek visual style that wows the viewer – like in this video by RedBull! The video also informs attendees about what will be happening at which locations around Paris.

6. Reasons to Attend

Are there a lot of events in your industry? Then your audience might be

finding it hard to choose! That’s why it’s good to give them a push

in the back and tell them why they should choose to attend your

event. Of course, you don’t need to push this video as a

“reasons to attend video” – it should be a video that uses

testimonials, facts, and figures or other inspirational

content to show the attendee and/or manager of

a company why they should invest in tickets for your event.

(visual: show, don’t tell)

What to include in a video like this:

  • Explain who this event is for: name some specific departments or functions to make people feel like they’re the perfect fit for this event.
  • Is there any practical advice that’ll help people tackle their challenges? Tell them!
  • If you’re advertising with these videos, just change some of the text to make separate versions for separate departments and target them to these specific audiences.
  • Are there any big inspirational keynotes that’ll give attendees ideas for the future? Let them know!

7. Line Up or Speakers Reveals

The main reason people want to attend an event like a business conference or a music festival is of course for the people who’ll be taking the stage. A lot of your (potential) attendees won’t decide to buy a ticket until they know who’ll be speaking or performing! With video speaker reveals, you’ll generate online buzz and get people excited for even more reveals to come.

 

For Wired, we included the speaker reveals of four different Wired events in one video. Afterwards, we extracted separate short videos to be used for each event separately. This way, they were created in one uniform style, increasing brand recognition for Wired events.

8. Speakers Interviews

You’ve worked hard to create a solid lineup with speakers from your country or maybe you’re even flying them in to attend and speak! Make use of all that knowledge and expertise and prep your attendees on your website or social channels with speaker preview videos. This might also convince people who didn’t know the speaker before!

 

Jennifer recorded a quick DIY video on the go to announce that she’d be speaking about how to get your message across with video in today’s busy world. Authentic, funny and it grabbed our attendees’ attention!

9. Landing Page Video 

Everything you post should redirect to a landing page where potential customers can learn all about your event. Putting your event information in a video at the top of the page is an easy and effective way to inform and convince your website visitors.

 

For the Video First Conference 2018 landing page, we made an animated video that appealed to the three different target groups of the event and included all the important information.

Tips: 

Everything you post should redirect to a landing page where potential customers can learn all about your event. Putting your event information in a video at the top of the page is an easy and effective way to inform and convince your website visitors.

 

For the Video First Conference 2018 landing page, we made an animated video that appealed to the three different target groups of the event and included all the important information.

  • Think about showing different videos to different viewers – either by using personalized video or by using A/B testing. Someone who’s visiting your website for the first time is looking for different content than someone’s who has already visited plenty of times.
  • Event communication works in flows. Don’t think your general concept video should always be at the top of your landing page – if you’re communicating about the end of the Early Bird tickets, don’t be scared to put your Early Bird video at the top! Most of your visitors on those days will be looking for Early Bird communication anyway.
  • Track data about people’s watch time (by hosting it on Wistia or Vimeo for example), and use this data for your remarketing! People who watched the whole video are probably valuable to retarget. 

10. Full Program Announcement

Once your program is complete and your schedule is finalized, share it with your audience. Because let’s be honest, people like to plan their day well in advance and make sure they don’t miss out on anything – from breakfast until the networking drinks!

Some advantages of a Full Program Announcement:

  • By the time your program is complete, you’ve already done some communication and gained some visitors on your landing page. So now’s the time to retarget those visitors for this video!
  • It’s a great way to keep the buzz going around your event halfway through your event communication.
  • When your full program is announced, you’re probably also announcing the last new speakers, so give them some attention!  

11. Ticket Sale Updates

So you’ve started your online ticket sales, but they’re not going to sell themselves… (Unless you’re a huge event that’s hugely popular). Time to spread the word with video! Think about your target audiences and start targeting those that are most valuable for your event.

 

It’s best to work with (at least) two different prices, such as early birds and regular tickets. Thanks to our good friend FOMO, people might decide faster whether they want to buy a ticket or not – because no one wants to miss out on a good deal!

12. Countdown

The countdown is a great way to remind your audience to keep their schedules free and have them look forward to your event! There’s no need to make a HD video – a simple countdown gif or video is enough to get the message across (and ideal for social!), just like these examples. 

13. Practical Information

Where’s the entrance? Where do I park? What do I bring? You’ve probably asked yourself these exact same questions! To ensure everyone finds your event smoothly and knows what to expect, creating a video with practical information is something your attendees will find useful – especially since not every event does this yet. Make sure this doesn’t become a dry enumeration, though! This is probably the last video people see before they come to your event, so get them in the mood and show them what the atmosphere of the event will be like with the right tone of voice and visuals.

14. Behind The Scenes: Event Prep

Your event is just around the corner! Make sure to get some footage and shots while you’re setting up. Your audience loves to get a look behind the scenes, so give them a sneak peek! This helps humanize your brand and strengthen your storytelling.

 

The day before and the morning of VFC 2018, we were getting our attendees ready for the event by giving them a look behind the scenes of the set-up, the venue, and more!

 

Bozar posted a timelapse of their “making of” the Charlemagne Palestine exposition that also teases the viewer about what’s to come!

Tips:

  • Try and get some before and after shots and turn them into one video that shows the transformation.
  • Post a shot of the welcome desk as soon as you’re ready & tell your followers that the event has started.
  • Show faces! People like to see who the faces behind the event are.
  • Right before the event is also a good moment to get some intro and outro shots. That could be a wide shot of the building or an overview of the event with the booths.
  • Behind the scenes can go further than setting up an event – show how speakers are preparing, the hard-working caterers, some personal updates from the organization, etc.

Video during your event

During your event, you can use video to give attendees and external viewers a look behind the scenes, streamline your communication and strengthen your brand with interviews and testimonials. There are so many interesting things happening at your event, take advantage of that to create tons of content for your social channels!

1. Welcome

During your event, you can use video to give attendees and external viewers a look behind the scenes, streamline your communication and strengthen your brand with interviews and testimonials. There are so many interesting things happening at your event, take advantage of that to create tons of content for your social channels!

Tips:

  • If you’re organising a corporate event, it’s a good idea to
    include this welcome message at the beginning of your
    presentation as an intro.
  • Creating all your content in the same branding, straight
    from the welcome message up to the end of your
    event, makes you look super professional.
  • Make sure you find out beforehand what the exact
    sizes of the screens will be so you can make the
    most of them.

2. Speaker Announcement

Rather than just calling a speaker on stage, keep users engaged with a visual introduction. This also makes it easier for people to understand the name or company and note it down if they want to.

Use varying sound design to make sure these introductions don’t become monotonous because then people won’t pay attention to them anymore.

3. Animated Slides or Intermezzo’s

This one’s especially for corporate events with several presentations or workshops in a row. Adding some animation and videos in between the more corporate slides is a good idea to keep your audience awake!

 

For BAM, we created a few short and fun videos to announce when the next session was about to start.

 

At our event, we announce the breaks, Q&A sessions, award show and other parts of the event with a video loop. It’s fun to keep something on the big screen during the break as a background and to grab people’s attention when it’s time to head back to their seats

4. Tour Video

With any event comes the search for the ideal event location and some time and effort to get it looking great! Again, thinking about the fact that people love to see behind the scenes content, show them around!

 

Paradise City is hosted at a unique location, and they decided to show the festival grounds and share some exciting news in one video! Shot with an iPhone, edited with subs and they were ready to go

Tips:

  • If you’re organising a corporate event, it’s a good idea to
    include this welcome message at the beginning of your
    presentation as an intro.
  • Creating all your content in the same branding, straight
    from the welcome message up to the end of your
    event, makes you look super professional.
  • Make sure you find out beforehand what the exact
    sizes of the screens will be so you can make the
    most of them.

5. Livestream

Think about it: people might not have been able to come to your event even though they were interested, so by live streaming you’ve just added another audience to your event! What’s more, if you ask your guests to share the live video, you might have gained some of their audience as well!

 

A lot of companies and event organizations are starting to use Facebook Live to reach their online audience, but there are a lot of other possibilities such as YouTube and Livestream.

Advantages of using Livestreaming services:

  • Live Video is a lot more engaging than other videos. According to Facebook Live, users spend 3X more time watching and comment 10X more when the video is live.
  • 30% of people who watch your livestream of the event will attend the following year!
  • Live Video is a cost-effective way of reaching more people. With Facebook Live, for example, you’re just using your existing company page and don’t need to do a lot of extra investments.

Tips:

  • Make sure you communicate about your livestream in advance to build anticipation. According to Facebook, a notification 24 hours before the livestream gives the best results.
  • Add a description that talks about the content of the livestream and grabs your audience’s attention before going live.
  • Make sure you have the strongest possible wifi signal to prevent choppy footage.
  • Keep an eye on the comments section and be responsive!
  • Facebook recommends livestreaming for at least 10 minutes. This gives your audience enough time to tune in. 

6. Behind The Scenes Reporting

Social Stories, and especially Instagram Stories, are basically like a live reporting tool on the day of the event. Again, you’re reaching an extra group of people who couldn’t make it to the event. Apart from photos and videos of the venue, the food, and the general atmosphere, they might also want to follow a keynote or see a performance through your Social Stories. That’s why you should also consider live-streaming some of the most interesting bits of your event content through Stories.

7. User-Generated Video Content

During your event, attendees will be using their smartphones to take pictures and videos to share with their followers. When organizing an event, try to encourage this user-generated content with competitions, hashtags or even a social media wall. Your attendees will feel a lot more involved and engaged with your brand if they can share their experiences.

 

Posting several images in a carousel will help your account score better in Instagram’s algorithm because swiping through the pictures is seen as engagement from your audience! 

Advantages of User Generated Video:

  • It’s the cheapest and easiest way to get more reach! The authenticity of User Generated Content often makes it more powerful than your own communication during your event.
  • A unique hashtag allows you to monitor and save what’s being posted about your event. You can repurpose this content later with the attendees’ permission.
  • People love to see their names pop up on screen, so by creating a “social media wall” – a screen showing the latest mentions of your event – you’ll encourage them to keep posting throughout the day.
  • Showing some social shares on your event screens during breaks (if you don’t have a social wall) also encourages people to share more content.

8. Taking advantage of influencers and key people

So you’ve probably invited some external speakers, performers or influencers – now’s your chance to try and snag them for a quick video interview! It’s a perfect time to ask them their opinion on the event, tips and tricks, best practices or more educational content. This way, you’re giving extra value to your audience and showing your interviewee in a different and more casual light.

9. Attendee Testimonials

Setting up a testimonial usually takes some work. You need to find a date that works for you and the customer, go down to their offices, set up, do the work, drive back. Rinse and repeat. Now, what if you could walk around or even set up a small video booth at your event and grab a couple of your customers for a quick 1-minute testimonial? It’s like killing 10 birds with one stone! We often see that it’s these testimonials that make up a big part of an event’s aftermovie, too. This gives your event so much more credibility, while also showing next year’s potential attendees why the event was worth it.

Attendee testimonials can also be really valuable for a smaller event, such as a workshop or lunch & learn. It’s a way  to convince prospects and clients that they should participate in your next sessions!

Video after your event

Once your event has closed its doors, video can be a great way to keep the buzz going. Your audience has been following along on your website and social channels – try and keep their attention for a while longer! And yes, we know video production and sharing can take up quite some time, but don’t forget that you’ve created so much content during your event that you can simply repurpose!

1. Thank You Video

Once you’ve reached the end of your event experience and sent your attendees home happy, don’t forget to thank them for coming! You can make a video beforehand, put together some of the event footage afterwards and share that as a thank-you message, or go for a genuine live video on your social stories.

 

At this point, speed is more important than quality! Leaving too much time between the end of your event and your thank you message won’t be as effective and engaging.

2. Post Show Highlights Video

As an event organizer, all you want to achieve is that people look back at your event with a smile on their face and to convince others they want to be part of it next year. It’s a marketing must-have and it’s what has made festivals like Tomorrowland so huge.

 

However, it’s not just crazy festivals that can have amazing aftermovies – take a look at this example from Hello Tomorrow: the aftermovie of their 2017 Global Summit is inspiring, professional and just makes you want to be a part of their summit!

Popular elements of an aftermovie:

  • Testimonials from speakers, artists or guests.
  • Timelapse footage giving an idea of how big the crowd was.
  • Drone images of the location (for higher end events).
  • A powerful voice-over
  • A reminder that the same event will be taking place next year.
  • Quotes from great presentations or acts.
  • Positive reactions from the crowd: clapping, smiling, etc.
  • Use a soundtrack that builds up the story.
  • The list of content you can include in your aftermovie goes on and on, so just remember to get as much footage as possible on the day of your event, from as many different angles and showing as many different topics as possible! 

3. Save The Date for next year

A save the date for the event of next year should go out very soon after the event has ended, sooner than your aftermovie! This way, attendees can pencil in the date in their (mental) agenda and once your aftermovie comes out, your whole audience will be reminded and will be looking forward to next year.

4. UGC: Recap and Wrap-up videos

Even after your event, try to encourage user generated-content. A good way to do so is by organizing recap videos. People who came to your event might share recap videos or recap articles that you can reshare. If there are any influencers or speakers who you think might be willing to do a recap of your event, talk to them before the event to set up an agreement!

5. Sharing Presentations

Why not leverage the effort you and your speakers put into those carefully crafted presentations by filming the whole thing and sharing it with attendees and new leads a couple of months from now? The only time and effort this asks from you might be a little bit of editing work to trim the video and do some visual & audio improvements – and you’re ready to go!

6. Sharing Interviews

There’s so much video content you can make at your event, so don’t forget to sort out all this footage and share it every once in a while after the event to keep the buzz going and to keep giving your followers valuable content.

 

At VFC, we took the time to ask some of our speakers a few questions related to their job and not so related to their job (as you’ve seen in the previous chapter) to  share with our audience. Some we shared live on our Instagram Stories, while others like this one with Jennifer Quigly-Jones we  shared some time after the event to keep our audience engaged  with long-tail content.

What we do

We create Content & Content Strategies

Our live and animation teams get to work to capture your story, communicate your message, and translate it into awesome Videos that really work. From sound to script to final edit, our 65 Video Strategists are on it.

 

But what’s a good content if no one sees it?

 

Our team will create a plan to activate your impressive new video. We’ll get your videos in front of the right people, at the right time, and on all the right channels.

What’s our process?

When you decide to kickstart a Video Production project this is the way we work.

Get in touch?

Have a question? We’d love to hear from you!

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